Vasquez headed toward fifth term on Board of Supervisors

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Devon Minnema, Dixon City Councilman speaks with his supporters as he gathered to watch the results during Tuesday’ primary at Luke’s Lounge in Dixon. Minnema won 22.05% of the vote finishing second in the race for District 4 of the Solano County Board of Supervisors.

Solano County Supervisor John Vasquez was in high spirits while watching the early results post during an election night party Tuesday at the Mission on the Hill in Vacaville. Vasquez won 54.18 percent of the vote or 6,177 to win his fifth term as supervisor.
Joel Rosenbaum — The Reporter

Solano County District 4 Supervisor John Vasquez appears poised to assume a fifth term on the Board of Supervisors.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, Vasquez had received 6,730 votes, or 54 percent, with all 32 precincts in District 4 reported.

There were still approximately 6,000 vote-by-mail ballots left to process countywide Wednesday evening, and 689 provisional ballots to count from District 4, according to the Solano Registrar of Voter’s website.

Vasquez had to maintain 51 percent or more of the vote in the primary in order to secure the supervisor’s seat and not go to a run-off in November.

Supporters lauded Vasquez late Tuesday night with “Congratulations!” and “We did it!” as hourly results continued to indicate he had surpassed the majority threshold.

Joined at Mission on the Hill in Vacaville by Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara and their families and friends, Vasquez gave a hopeful speech thanking his supporters around 9:30 p.m.

“Looks promising,” he said shortly after, as he and his family looked at the results from the Registrar of Voters website on a television screen.

“You’re always excited when you see the numbers, and look forward to seeing that trend continue, always just a little bit cautious,” he said.

He was joined by his wife Shelli and their three daughters and grandchildren.

Vasquez said he looks forward to continuing his work on the board, to which he was first elected in November 2002.

During his campaign, he pointed to his years of experience on the county board, as well as many other boards and councils he serves on that address various issues throughout the region.

“There’s those issues that never seem to go away,” he said, one of those being homelessness, which the board discussed Tuesday at their meeting.

“This time around, the cities and the county have to work together,” he said. “The population’s getting bigger and the problems associated with it continue to grow.”

The second top vote-getter, Dixon City Councilman Devon Minnema, said he had a “well-run race,” but ultimately yielded to the incumbent.

“I actually called John Vasquez this morning and left a message for him conceding the race,” he said Wednesday.

Minnema received 2,697 votes, or 21.82 percent.

He said he won’t agree with Vasquez on policy and “things won’t change at the county,” but he offered congratulations.

Minnema will continue to serve on the city council, to which he was elected in 2016.

He spent election night awaiting results with his supporters at Luke’s Lounge in downtown Dixon, including Brandon Nelson, a student at the University of California, Davis who ran as a write-in candidate for State Assembly District 4.

“This is a celebration of what we’ve accomplished so far, no matter what,” Minnema said early in the evening.

Lazaro, a retired county Social Services employee with 30 years of experience in Solano and Contra Costa, said she was running due to the “lack of responsiveness” of the incumbent.

She cited her experience in building relationships and rapport with a broad range of people at different socioeconomic levels, an MBA that helps when looking a billion dollar budget, and a “knack for streamlining” operations, accounting money and serving the public.

MacMakin said that she decided to run for office due to her perceived lack of transparency in government.

She felt her skills used to achieve goals in her technology career should achieve the same result as a county supervisor.

District 4 covers the unincorporated parts of Vacaville and Dixon and the northern part of Solano.